“Hopefully it will be smooth sailing.”“Joe’s heading out tomorrow,” Joanne said.“When would you be coming back?” Cheryl asked.Joe sighed...and beckoned her to sit on his lap. “I want to spend a couple weeks in Barbados, then head back to LA for a week, maybe less. Partly to see how Rhonda is settling in. Maybe to give her a hand with furnishing her new place. But also to be a go between when Maria gets hit by Bob’s news.”“Which news is that?” Cheryl asked.“Of course you don’t know. Sorry.”“A. His chest and arm muscles were also much bigger than they had ever been, he found to his pleasant surprise.He snorted. You could make a mint off this. Want to lose weight and gain muscle definition, guys? Just survive a helicopter crash in the Russian Arctic, then haul a sledge made of a door mechanism fifty miles across a frozen sea. No problem. Supplies are limited, call now.He cut off his giggles before they could mount to full-fledged hysteria. He took one last look in the mirror, then went. D couldn't do. Fermin, their driver, had gone into town first thing that morning to pick up a couple of dozen at the French bakery."Here you are, Mrs. D." Thanks, Maria."Persephone's mom took a croissant, inspected it, and took a bite and chewed, slowly and thoughtfully, a little smile around her eyes."I love croissants."I looked at Persephone, who was watching her mother and smiling."OK, Mom, no need to have an orgasm over your breakfast."I sputtered and spit coffee.Mrs. D put down the. I stress that I cannot prove any of this, but it never hurts to be prepared.“I will again remind you that I am only a Precog 1, but in case things do go wrong, I want you, the primary bridge crew, to be prepared just as I have warned the Engineering Department to be. I have said nothing to the Captain, other than having tried several times to convince him that something is out there observing us – to no avail, of course. I continue to worry that these Earth beings might have some type of hidden.